Wheel alignment gauge



Sept. 20, 1932. c, c. BENNETT WHEEL ALIGNMENT GAUGE Filed Sepi.- J. 1929 l NVENTOR Claude CZfie/meff when a wheel ,is rolled len i wheell'gauge nam Patented 20, 1932 UNITED; "STATES- gmmy emen cannon .c. hammer, or smmmywasnmeroiw, ASSIGNOR TO, a. n rnnaonn, me;

or sauna, wasnmeron, a CORPORATION or wasnmoron wrfnm. v mzcmnzam: canon 7 My invention relates to improvements in motor vehicle wheel gauges and is in the nature of an improvement on the wheel gauge disclosed in my. prior Patent No. 1,675,481;

5 issued July 33, 1926 and in application, Serial No. 261,439, filed March 14,1929. A companion application discloses another form of such a gauge. f The general object of my invention, as in patent and applications is to provide a motor vehicle wheel auge that will indicate whether or not the? vehicle is so set that abrasive action and tire wear occurs, when the wheel is caused, to 15 travel-over the gauge, thus'makin .it posalignment, and substantially the amount that said wheel is out of alignment, by -driving the op osite wheel over the gen e. other general object is to; provide a gauge in thejnatu're of a runner board or platform of considerablelength in'the d rection-of movement-of the wheel, that 7s mounted foreidewise movement, so that gthwise along said board the board willbe deflectedbodilysidewise in case the wheel is out of al1gnment, the amount of si ewise deflection of the runner board, for any given distance 80 run, being proportional to the amount that .the' wheel is out of proper adjustment. A'more s cifie ohjectisto provide a runner board of this nature that has rackandpinion means between the runner board and its support for insuring that ends of the board will alway be deflected sidewise'the same amount an in ,the same direction.-

Other and more specific objects will be ,ap-' parent. from the following description taken-- connection with the accompanying draw 1n 1 Tnthe. drawing Figure his aplan view of in accordance with my invention; r f 4 g 2 is asectional view of the same substantially on broken 1ine*2 2 of,Fig1ire 1. 'Figure'3. isa cross section on a larger scale on broken line 3-3 of Figure 1. i Figures 1 and 3 certain operative posiv or not abrasion is present. sible' to determine when the wheel is out'of y in a horizontal from one fourth to three eighths'of an inch which may rest upon Application ma September a, 1929. semi 101mm;

'tions that the runner board'may assume are J shown by dot and dafsb lines.

The front wheels 0 a motor "vehicle, when" they are properly adjusted, are cambered, so

that they-are closer togetherat their bottoms than at their tops. This camber is supplementedv by toe-in, nieaningthat the extreme front of' the tires are closer together than their extreme rear points. Each setting afiects the other, but usually ,when abrasive I action occurs it is due to faulty toe-in. This ront wheel of a' motor iinvention, then, is chiefly concerned with toe-in, though broadly speaking it'is' con- The adjust cut for toe-in or pitch is or dinarily made so that the distance between the centers of the tires in front of the wheel plane that bisects the axes is y less than the distance between corresponding points at the rear of the wheel. This adjustment for toe-in or pitch {is usuall made by adjusting the efl'ectlve lengthof t e steerin knuckle tie rod, and the wheels are check for the adjustment by-measuring the dis: tance between corresponding points on the tire at the front and rear of the wheel. My

gauge eliminates the necessity of makin these necessarily exact measurements, whic are especially difiicult to make with modern low-hung cars, and. shows accurately and quickly whether or not the drawing I show a'b" preferably formed .of two longitudinall? extending, spaced apart, together by a ottom plate/4 that rests on" their horizontal .flan es. 1-;

Eg tending. crosswise of the jbase between the two side angles 5 are a plurality of rack bars 6 and 7, two or more in number, and two of whifchI prefer to locate near the opposite ends of the base frame. The rack bars 6 and 7 serve as tracks and supports for gear pinions 8 which/are secured on shafts 9 that extend lengthwise of the gauge. -A"runner board 10 is provided on its bottom sidewith rack bars 11 and 12 that mesh with, and; the gear pinions 8,

the wheel is put of alignment and how much it is out.

garallel side angles 5 secured whereby the runner board is supported for sidewise parallel movement in either direction on the frame. The gear pinions, being secured to the shafts 9, compel a like movementof both ends of the board in the same direction whenever said board is deflected. The runner board may be supported entirely by-the pinions 8, or it may be supported on separate antifriction bearings and 10 the pinions 8, shafts 9 and rack bars 6, 7, 11

and 12 may be used for the purpose of obtaining a parallel motion only. In the drawing I have shown rollers 13 mounted on the shafts 9 between the pinions 8 to assist in 15 supporting the runner board 10,the'rollers running in trackways 14. l

Balanced springs 15 are provided for always returning the runner board 10 to'its initial or mid position. Inclined approaches 2. A vehicle wheel gauge, embodying a support, a runner board extending beneath and lon itudinally of said support, a plurality o longitudinally extending shafts between the board and its support, gear pinions secured to the shafts near opposite ends of the su port, transverse gear racks on the support or the gear pinions to run on, and other transverse gear racks on the bottom of the runner board arranged to rest upon the pinions, whereby said gear racks and pinions and shafts compel transverse movement of said runner board through positions,

parallel to its initial position.

Signed "at Seattle, Washington. I

CLAUDE G. BENNETT.

15 are provided at the ends of the runner board.

When in use, m gauge is adapted to rest upon the garage oor or pavement and the .front vehicle wheel opposite that the align- 2 mentof which is to be tested "is caused to travel along the runner board from one end toward the other end of the same. If the floor-engaging wheel is correctl adjusted the runner board will not'be' de ected sidewise in either direction. If the wheel is out' 0 car-groper alignments-for instance, if it toes in too much'-then it will deflect the run ner'board outwardly. If said wheel toes out too much then it will deflectthe runner board *inwardl the amount of movement of the runner card, for each unit of distance in the directionof the wheels advance, being proportional to the amount of error in the adjpistment ofthe wheel.

a o obtain a correction indication of the error involved in the adjustment of a wheel I find it necessary to have the runner board of substantial length so that the tire ofthe wheel ma be caused to 011 'a considerable 4 portiono its circumference over said run ner board, thus minimizing local errors and accumulating the small and almost imperceptible misalignments per unit length of the spaced apart gear pinions fixed on said shaft,

'and gear racks on the supportand onthe runner board and pinions.

meshing with the gear 

